Black dust

[dewcanteen]

There's a lady I know that lives like an hour from me. She has a farmhouse with mostly weed/grass. She has a little white dog and she says everytime he comes back in the house he has black feet/underbelly that almost looks like its dusted on.

Any clue what might be doing it?

[Runner]

Wow...this many reads and no replies. You probably would have had better luck in the applicators forum, but I'll try to add some insight.
Obviously, something is going on with some sort of fungus that is causing this black dust to begin with. Now,...there are only a few fungi that will produce a dust of this color that you describe. While there are a few more that produce a gray dust (which could appear black on a light colored dog), let's stick with the black possibilities. Obviously, mushroom spores can produce a brown and black dust, but that would probably be too obvious. I am willing to bet that the most likely culprit would be a disease called Stripe Smut. It is a disease that attacks many bluegrass cultivars (as well as a few others) and causes the leaf of the blade to turn black. The blades get stripes in them at first, that are light green to a yellow, then to gray, then to black. One the area of the blade turns black, it dries the leaves and they split into strands (like fine strings), curl up and and basically crumble...causing the dust when hit or kicked. This is usually caused by insufficient nitrogen and heavy moisture conditions and will cause thin and bare areas in the turf. It can be curtailed by a good feeding and deep morning waterings and avoiding mid day or evening waterings. By the sounds of it though,...if she lives on a farm, "mid day waterings" are probably the last thing going on. lol Try a feeding of a decent nitrogen, and the turf should overcome this condition and outgrow it.

[dewcanteen]

Thanks for the reply. I will get out there in a about a week to take a good look at it and I will report back what I found.

JB

[Stonewellmark]

I dont mean to undermine the fungus/mold avenue, as it is very possible, but does the property have any black mulch, maybe its from that? Or possibly since its an OLD farmhouse is there an old coal bin somewhere that the dog it getting into??? I dont know just spitballing.. but def. check for the fungus/mold issues previusly mentioned. :confused:

[topsites]

Oh it's probably just a dog thing thou there is a right for the concern, so I think the easiest way
is to kind of keep an eye on it and see what this animal's getting itself into.

Now I'm not trying to be a wise guy but maybe see if someone can get a good whiff of that stuff, see if it smells like anything.
Ask her also to talk to some neighboring farmers, maybe a vet.

Probably it was just resting itself in some dirt because it's been really hot in the last 2-3 days,
see they like to dig the top layer of dirt away because it's cooler that way yet the dirt underneath
tends to be darker.

On the other hand you do want to find out what it is, just in case.

So just kind of keep an eye on the pooch, sooner or later you're likely to find out.

Peace out

[beegreenlandcare]

Is the dog's black underneath from it "walking thru" something or more that it was "digging in" something black?
Finding the answer to this is gonna givee you abetter idea where to look or what to consider as the problem.
Does the lady burn her garbage-sometimes dogs will dig in the burn pit after food remnants.:dizzy:

[White Gardens]

I would go with the digging theory.

Dogs are dust mops, they pick up anything including dirt off of grass. My dog walks through a dry yard and instantly looks dirty.

Almost sounds like on of those ladies who complain about the dust the company tracks in whenever they have people over.